Flesh, Bone and Stone
Elly remembered the decimation of Tristram, she remembered the flight to their little encampment, and she remembered the brief period of peace while the world tried to rebuild. Now the dark was rising once again and with it a Hero would rise as a beacon of light and hope to the world. To her utter astonishment it appeared that the Hero of this age had arrived, and that he was a Necromancer. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the Hero. He was a striking sight; tall and gaunt, the flesh of his face was stretched tightly over prominent cheekbones, long beaky nose, sharp angular jaw line, and was the pale of bleached bone, except where the skin darkened beneath the deep set hollows of his glittering onyx eyes to the rich purple of congealed blood. His thin colorless lips were pressed together, and his heavy brows were furrowed as he listened to the captain speak. A long strand of shock white hair came loose from its bindings and fell into his face; he brushed it behind his ear with an awkward jerky motion. Elly noticed that from the second knuckle down the long thin fingers of his hand was the same purpled colour as the hollows of his eyes. Except for that one motion, he could have been a statue, or a corpse.
The town had been in an uproar since the Dark Wanderer had passed through and the attacks had begun. Nothing had hurt more than the fall of Blood Raven. Kashya, her captain, had not been the same since the confirmation of her lieutenant's corruption. Blood Raven had been a Necromancer born, but had turned away from her destiny, it was especially hard to know that she had fallen to calling the dead from the Burial Grounds, and harder still for Kashya to accept the help of a Necromancer in bringing about her necessary destruction. After Akara had announced that the Hero had defeated Blood Raven everyone about the camp had celebrated. Everyone accept the captain who had remained aloof from the festivities. It was shortly thereafter that Elly had been summoned and informed that she would be required to accompany the Hero after he returned to the town to serve as a guide and provide him protection.
The Hero had introduced himself as Alastair, not surprisingly he gave no surname, and likely he had none. Nature marks Necromancers from birth by their appearance as different from those around them. Their nature and affinities have the tendency to make others uneasy in their presence, and their association with death has always pushed them to the fringe of society. Very often parents of Necromancers would leave their newly birthed infants on the steps of their local church, with the understanding that enduring the stigma of abandoning their own child was still easier to bear than the prospect of raising such a being to maturity.
Kashya turned away and Elly stepped forward.
"We start tomorrow, be prepared to depart early." His voice was deep and resonant, but unconcerned and implacable. He did not wait for a reply from her but turned on his heel and headed toward the edge of town. Elly returned to her tent, eager with anticipation and wracked with fear for the adventure to come, and fear of the Necromancer.